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IRVINE, CALIF.-Though fans showered the ring with money, not everyone was
happy with the result between Rhonda Luna and Margarita Espinoza.
"I felt they stole the fight from me," said Espinoza who boxes out of Los
Angeles.
Before a standing room only crowd at the Irvine Marriott Hotel, Luna used
her guile to win a unanimous decision against the strong, persistent
Espinoza.
"She was aggressive and she was strong, but my right hands were the
difference," said Luna (9-0) who remains undefeated.
From the onset Espinoza rushed in with body punches. It was an attack she
seldom deviated from for the entire six round fight.
Luna opened up with her jab and fired combination punches when inside the
reach of Espinoza. Both fighters were willing to trade punches often
snapping each others head back.
Most of the crowd had expected a let down after three successive knockouts
in previous bouts. But the female prizefighters immediately won over the
crowd with their aggressive nonstop punching.
But with only one pro fight under Espinoza's belt, experience told the tale
in this fight.
In one round, Espinoza seemingly trapped Luna in a corner and fired several
body shots. Then, in an instant, Luna ducked, pivoted out of the corner, and
reversed the trap and had Espinoza under a barrage of a dozen punches. It
was the theme for the entire fight, according to the judges. Luna seemed to
land more eye-opening shots.
The judges scored the fight 60-54, 59-55, 58-56 for Luna.
"I thought I gave the people a good fight," said Luna, who also teaches at
Nogales High. "When you're undefeated, everybody comes at you."
Espinoza said the crowd felt she won the fight.
"Didn't you hear them?" she said. "Everyone thought I won the fight. At
least a draw."
Victor Valenzuela, who trains Luna, said "these fighters have nothing to
lose so they come at her strong."
Espinoza and Luna split more than $190 dollars sprayed in the ring by
excited fans after the final bell rang.
"They threw money in there because of me," said Espinoza (1-1).
Luna, who is ranked as high as number three as a featherweight, said "I
always expect tough fights."
Now Luna's team is looking for bouts with elite featherweights.
"I think she (Luna) is ready for the next level," said Valenzuela, who
formerly trained WBO welterweight title-holder Zack Padilla in the early
90s. "She looked good in there."
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